Location: ‘The Underworld’, London, England.
Date: 29^th May, 2008.
Bands: Dream Evil, Conquest Of Steel
Reviewed by: Chris Galea

Music evolves or it dies. I’ll be one of the first to admit that. However I won’t even deny that I still get a kick out of the Metal that had dominated the 1980s – that no-frills cathartic and anthemic Metal combined with an image often both bombastic and naïve. There was something I found alluring in all that. And I still do although today I’m more likely to sit back, relax and enjoy a cold drink while seeing such a performance. Little did I imagine, therefore, that Dream Evil and Conquest Of Steel were about to reignite my adrenaline glands and my thirst for something more engaging than a cold drink.

CONQUEST OF STEEL

Seeing a stage adorned with skulls, battleaxes, swords and macabre sceptres you’d be forgiven for thinking you accidentally bumped into the film-set of Conan The Barbarian. Then when charismatic and rotund vocalist Dan Durrant steps onto the stage sporting band-patches kept together by a totally hidden and torn denim jacket……well you know this is as Metal as Metal gets.

All the set-list of C.O.S. was met with an enthusiastic response. Numbers included ‘In Victory Or Death’, ‘I Am Legend’ and the particularly well-delivered ‘A Million Strong’. During ‘Steel Is The Law’ Mr. Durrant felt the need to brandish a huge sword at the audience to drive his point home! The only cover was Dio’s ‘Holy Diver’ which was met with several screams, grunts, fists and horns. And banging heads. “Sometimes we don’t give a fuck about society” - the same Durrant kept spewing similar rhetoric between songs.

There seemed to be a recurring lack of punch in the songwriting of C.O.S.. Furthermore I feel the songs performed lacked some really great guitar solos. But when C.O.S. close their show with ‘Can’t Stop The Metal’ during which the band’s vocalist is drinking from an overturned skull, you really can’t be bothered to think of any shortcomings.

Rating: 75/100

www.conquestofsteel.co.uk

DREAM EVIL

Tonight’s true revelation, at least to me, were Dream Evil. Sure, before the gig I knew the band had a few cool songs but tonight’s performance made me realize that these Swedes’ talent and potential deserves a more global recognition.

‘United’ proved to be the perfect start to Dream Evil’s show. ‘Evilised’ followed and when I thought the band couldn’t get better, with each subsequent song I kept renewing this belief. The band’s songs boast heavy riffs but also have some great melodies that weren’t lost in this gig. Nicklas Isfelt’s vocals were strikingly powerful and emotional. The performance of ‘Crusader’s Anthem’ and ‘Chasing The Dragon’ highlighted his talent – to a susbstantial degree Dream Evil’s sound seems to depend on Nicklas’ singing. Drummer Pat Power and Fredrik Nordstrom on guitar also put on a great performance but really all band members proved to be able musicians.

What impressed me most was how the audience reacted to Dream Evil’s show. From the first song to the last they were all singing the band’s songs making the gig a very moving experience. “I think you listen to our songs” understated Niklas. At one point the band improvised half a cover of ‘Black Sabbath’ – reflecting the fun they were having. If hard-pressed I’d offer ‘Heavy Metal in the Night’ and ‘The Chosen Ones’ as the best songs of the night. 

Oddly enough for a Swedish band largely influenced by 1980s Heavy Metal, Dream Evil seem to have a very loyal fan base in England. Tonight’s gig certainly made that fan base burn stronger.

Rating: 92/100

www.dreamevil.se

© Chris Galea